IO2 Favourite Foreign Birds. 



THE GREEN WAXBILL, or GREEN AVADAVAT, Es- 

 trelda formosa, which is a pretty bird, is somewhat 

 larger than the common Avadavat. The upper parts of 

 the body are dark olive-green ; the wings and tail dark 

 greenish-brown ; the lower parts are dull yellow, all 

 more or less marked with wavy lines of a darker 

 shade than the body colours ; the beak is bright red. 

 There is very little difference between the sexes, but 

 the colours of the female are duller than those of the 

 male. 



Though common in their own country India they 

 are not very frequently imported. I have not heard 

 of their breeding in this country, and I have found 

 them decidedly delicate. 



Food and treatment the same as for the other 

 Waxbills. 



THE GOLDEN-BREASTED WAXBILL, Estrelda sub- 

 flava, is the least of all the Waxbills, and is as pretty 

 as it is small, and otherwise desirable. 



The upper part of the body is dark olivaceous-brown ; 

 the wings and the tail dark greenish-brown ; the lower 

 parts are golden-yellow, with a reddish tinge on the 

 breast and at the vent ; the sides are darker, and 

 each tiny feather in that situation has a yellow edge ; 

 the beak is dusky red, and a line of dark orange 

 surmounts the eye like an eyebrow. 



The female is altogether duskier in appearance, and 

 lacks the golden sheen on the breast ; but her sides 

 present the same zebra markings as her mate markings 

 to which these diminutive creatures owe another of 

 their names : that of Zebra Waxbill. 



Their food and mode of nesting are exactly like that 



